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Back to the Board - Carcassonne
Heartless Gamer writes to mention a feature on Grimwell online looking at the great board game of Carcassonne. Yet another terrific title from Rio Grande, the article takes a look at a possible introductory title for someone who might not have played a more serious board game. From the article: "Once you place a farmer, you can't get that follower back. The question thus becomes, do you play it now while the field is empty or do you wait, hoping your opponent won't claim the field the following turn? Farms can mean big points at the end of the game but could also mean missed points during the game if you run out of followers to play. The game plays smoothly once the players are briefed on the rules. Turns fly by and games complete relatively quickly. The only trick area of gameplay is ensuring players placing farmers are not overlapping other farmers. There can be a lot of land tiles between farmers, so a keen eye is required to ensure the rules are followed. Fortunately, the rule book has plenty of examples to help the players out."
I like this game a lot. Some other favorites are Settlers of Catan[And its two expansions], Age of Mythology [The boardgame], Betrayal at House on The Hill, Arkham Horror, Power Grid, and Puerto Rico. Check the games out if you want something new to sit down and play with your friends... we're hooked. -TKSV
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Those Carcassonne guys gave Ben Sisko more than his share of headaches.
Where were you when the voynix came?
This is a great game for people looking for games in the Catan/Amun Re/etc style but with quicker gameplay and simpler rules without sacrificing much of the "heart" in theses games.
The best thing is that it can be played 2 player. It's best with 3-5, but it's still enjoyable with 2.
[Pruneau
If you like the social aspect of games there are two other games i can recommend: - Die wervolfe fon dusterwald - its a game about werewolves everybody gets assigned a card (werewolve, citizen, witch, hunter etc). The goal of the game is for the werewolves to kill the citizens and for the citizens to identify and burn the wolves. Its a brilliant game that can be played with up to 18 people. its a really cool game where everybody gets parranoid accussing others of being a wherewolf - kuhhandel - again a card trading game similar to bohnanza but very complex (you have to get four of the same animals and every turn you can either auction off an animal or force trade with other player and there is no real strategy for winning which makes it such a brilliant game. I wonder why almost all games come from germany? don't they have computers or tv's ;-)
...what matters is what you like, not what you are like...
Brettspielwelt (BoardGameWorld in German) has been online for a really long time and has around 40-50 various Rio Grande games which one can play multiplayer via some java applet and standalone client.
Check the Wikipedia entry on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrettspielWelt and here is the English portal: http://www.brettspielwelt.info/
My favorites are Carcassonne(of course!), Peurto Rico(games can be VERY LONG though), and Tichu.
Carcasonne is an excellent entry point into the world of strategy board gaming. The rules can be learned in about 15 minutes, but it takes many games to really get a sense of winning strategies. It is also infinitely replayable, since the board is different every time you play. Truly, one of the great games of the last few years.